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During his first two months as Police Chief, Wes Revels has stayed busy diving into his new initiatives.

Revels has focused on the downtown area, alcohol and drugs, and working with the media and the community, and he has been enjoying the challenges so far.

“The past two months have been busy and very enjoyable,” Revels said. “I appreciate the opportunity to be the Police Chief and face these challenges.”

Revels said that he is spending a considerable amount of time in meetings as a resource. He has put together an initiative to resolve some of the alcohol-related and drug-related incidents in the downtown area and throughout the city.

“We have been responding to many calls downtown, particularly in the early morning hours on the weekends,” Revels said. “We need to inform the public more and hopefully we can reduce some of the calls.”

Revels held a meeting on March 14 with several bar owners and tavern league members at the Western Technical College campus. Revels said that many issues were brought to the table during the meeting, despite the fact that many bar owners who attended were not from the bars where the most incidents were occurring. Revels would also like to see more involvement from other downtown businesses.

“Many times it is the other businesses downtown that have to clean up the mess,” Revels said. “Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with the downtown reputation that has developed. We shouldn’t have a reputation like that in a town of 9,000 people.”

Revels has also been focusing on working with the media and the Tomah Chamber of Commerce. He held a meeting with several members of the local media in March to discuss how the Tomah Police Department could better serve the media with information. Revels has also put together plans to work with the Chamber of Commerce to focus on robbery awareness. A Robbery Awareness Seminar is scheduled for April 17 at the Western Technical College Community Room.

While Revels continues to focus on problems in Tomah, he also has noticed many steps in the right direction. He attended a town meeting at the Bible Evangelical Free Church where nearly 35 citizens of the Grandview and Heeler areas discussed public nuisance issues. He is also pleased with the success of School Resource officer Melanie Marshall.

After his first two months on the job, Revels continues to look toward challenges ahead, but he knows that the police department can only do so much. Revels hopes to promote more community involvement in the future.

“The involvement of the community is wanted by us, and needed for us to thrive as a well-rounded police department,” Revels said.